We're here for you
by BTR'slovesong
Summary: Three short tales chronicling when the guys were there for Carlos.


**A/N So this whole tattooed, muscly, naked Carlos thing is really making me miss baby innocent Carlos. So here's three little stories in which Carlos is babied, loved on, and absolutely adorable.**

_**I: Death**_

Carlos' trembling fingers wrapped around the cold metal doorknob leading into his apartment. Ever so slowly and quietly as possible, he opened the wooden door and shut it behind him with a barely audible "click." He let a brief sigh of relief escape his lips when he saw the entire apartment was enshrouded with darkness and everything was silent.

Good.

He didn't want anybody to be awake. The first reason being was that it was two AM, which was two full hours past curfew in the BTR household. So if someone were to catch him coming home so late, he knew he'd be grounded for the rest of his boy band career.

The second reason was that his eyes were red, itchy and swollen and his cheeks were hot and tear-stained. He was pretty sure that tonight was the absolute worst night of his life…

Carlos kicked off his shoes, trying to avoid any memory of the night. All he wanted to do was crawl into his warm, awaiting bed and sleep so he could forget the terrible news he had been given. He took one slow step at a time across the wood floor of the living area to get to his bedroom, holding his breath and praying nobody would wake up.

He was halfway there, so _close_, when a table lamp clicked on, illuminating the room with a dim yellow light. Carlos jumped, his white sock-clad feet scrambling a foot into the air. His heart pounded, then sank, when he realized he was caught.

"_Carlos."_

The boy in question cringed and turned around to see James sitting on the orange couch, his arm's folded around his chest to seem intimidating. Carlos groaned. He did not want to deal with this right now. He knew James would be angry with him. He wanted to go to bed, not argue and hear a lecture from James. His eyes were weary and his heart literally ached. He wanted to be oblivious to the pain for a while.

But instead of being scolded, Carlos found himself wrapped tightly in James' arms, pressed against the bigger boy's chest so he could hear his heart beating loudly with relief and left over panic. He felt a hand glide through his hair. James pressed his cheek against the top of Carlos' head and sighed.

"Um, James?" Carlos squeaked, feeling crushed by James' embrace. James didn't let go, but he loosened his hold a bit.

"Carlos, you scared the crap out of me. Where have you been?" He demanded, his voice a little harsh. He had been waiting for two agonizing hours for his little brother-who had never been late for curfew a day in his life-to get home. It was the longest moments of his life.

"I'm sorry, I just-"

James didn't give Carlos a chance to explain. Now that he was home safe, all the fear and anger that had been building inside of James came to a head.

"Do you have any idea what I've been through these past couple of hours, Carlos? I thought you were dead in a ditch or something! Why didn't you call me? Why would you not even think to let anybody know you'd be out in the wee hours of the morning? I was just waiting by the phone, expecting it to ring any moment with news that you got in some kind of horrible accident!"

Carlos stood there awkwardly as James yelled at him, a fresh batch of tears welling behind his hurt eyes. He thought he had cried all his tears, but several more of the fat, crystal drops poured down his face. James had never yelled at him before.

"I'm sorry," Carlos said, his voice cracking, and that was when James realized he was crying. The taller boy broke off mid-rant and stared at Carlos, an icy-cold feeling in his stomach forming. Something was wrong with Carlos. Something had happened to his little brother to make him stay out so late.

"Carlos, why… Why are you crying?" James whispered, touching his wet cheek with his knuckles. "I'm sorry, buddy. I was just really scared."

Carlos shook his head. "No, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you think I was dead. I guess I just lost track of time."

"That's not like you, Carlos. What happened to you tonight?"

When Carlos didn't answer, just sniffed and whimpered like a lost puppy, James brought the small boy to the couch and placed two strong hands onto his quivering shoulder, pushing him into a sitting position on the couch.

"'Litos, talk to me buddy. It's just you and me. What happened? Who do I need to beat up?"

"Nobody, James. No one hurt me. It's just… God."

James raised an eyebrow. "God?" He repeated. Since when did Carlos Garcia speak cryptic? "What did God do?"

Carlos took a deep, shuddering breath and gave James a small smile when he felt his hand rest on his shaking knee, encouraging him to go on. "He took away my cousin, James. Remember Eduardo? He was only a year older than me and we were like best friends. I haven't even seen him since we moved here. I never got to say goodbye, James. I just always thought I'd see him again but then I got the phone call tonight..." Carlos trailed off, memories of the phone call causing more tears to come.

James' heart filled with dread as he realized just what Carlos had gone through, all alone, that night. He dealt with the mind numbing, heart wrenching agony of losing somebody close to him.

"Carlos… No… I'm so sorry," James choked out.

"He was hit by a car today. He's gone forever, James." Carlos' voice was high pitched with pain now, and he leaned forward into James' waiting arms. He rocked him steadily as he cried, running his hands along the contours of his back.

"I ran when I found out. I just sat there under the stars trying to figure out why it happened. I forgot what time was, James. I'm so sorry. Please don't be mad."

"Shh, Shh, I'm not mad," James said gently. He scooped the tiny boy into his arms and sat down on the couch, cradling him in his lap. Carlos curled up into him and cried into his neck. James held onto him tightly, silently cursing at nothing in particular as his baby brother wept with sorrow. It just wasn't fair, that somebody so innocent and young had to experience something so painful. James always thought he'd be able to protect Carlos from everything that came to harm him, but he never even thought that one day, there would be something he couldn't protect him from: Death.

_**II: Fear**_

Carlos sat rigid, watching the dark blues waves forming and white foam spray from all sides of the boat as it skimmed weightlessly across the clear ocean. His fingernails dug into his bare thighs so hard it began to sting, so he settled on clutching his bathing shorts instead. His heart was pounding mercilessly in his chest, his stomach was rolling as much as the waves were, and honestly he just wanted the boat to stop moving. No, scratch that, he wanted to be on dry land, away from the bottomless pit of water, which seemed to just be waiting to swallow Carlos whole.

"Yo Carlitos, you okay?" Logan inquired from where he sat next to Carlos at the back of the small boat. He, James and Kendall had all been whooping and hollering as the boat reached some pretty high speeds, but Logan noticed Carlos to be quiet and withdrawn, watching the small waves that the boat produced warily.

Carlos glanced at Logan and raised his eyes questioningly, trying to come out as if he were just fine.

"You're looking kind of pale," Logan told him. Carlos just shrugged and hugged his knees to his chest.

"I want to go home," Carlos said softly, and Logan could hardly hear him over the roaring motor.

"Wait… You said you want to go home?" Logan asked. Suddenly, the boat hit a rather rough wave and all four boys went flying a few inches off their seat. James and Kendall screeched with joy and laughed, but Carlos went deathly pale, his eyes darkening in fear. He looked absolutely terrified.

"Carlos, hey… What's going on?" Logan asked seriously, touching Carlos pale, trembling hand. "Are you seasick?"

"Maybe," Carlos said. He was feeling a bit nauseous, but that wasn't why he wanted to be off of this boat. Carlos never told any of his friends this, but he was scared to death of water. Just the thought of drowning made him want too puke and cry. He was fine in swimming pools when the water was only chest high or so, but when the depths were endless like in the ocean, his fear was debilitating.

Suddenly, the loud whirring of the motor died down and the boat stopped, rocking slightly against the waves.

"Wh-why'd we stop?" Carlos asked, his heart racing at the thought of being stranded out in the ocean, where they could drown or be eaten by sharks or taken by pirates.

"Time for a swim!" James cried excitedly, standing up from where he was seated behind the wheel.

"Good, that will give your stomach enough time to settle," Logan said. He stripped off his t-shirt and Carlos watched in horror as his little brunet friend just jumped off the side of the boat, plunging to his death in the icy cold depths of the sea.

"_Logannnnn!"_ Carlos screeched, leaning over the boat edge dangerously. The boat leaned a bit and he scrambled back anxiously to get it back on-kilter, still screaming Logan's name.

"Carlos, stop screaming!" Kendall said, alarmed by his youngest friends blood-curdling screeches. He was at his side instantly, grabbing him by the shoulders. "Why are you freaking out?"

Carlos began to cry. "Because, Logan! He's-"

"I'm right here," Logan said, hanging onto the edge of the boat, his dark bangs drooping over his eyes and dripping beads of salt water down his face. Carlos blinked, feeling kind of stupid that he thought his friend was a goner. Of course all of his buddies knew how to swim. Carlos was the only one who really didn't know how.

"You sure you're alright, buddy?" Logan asked as James and Kendall got into the water and Logan climbed back into the boat.

"I thought you drowned," Carlos squeaked. Logan just chuckled.

"Of course not, buddy! I know how to swim. I wouldn't have jumped in if I didn't. Now come on, you need to loosen up a bit and swim with us. I bet it would make your stomach feel better if you just had a little fun."

Logan pulled on Carlos' arm, beckoning him to stand up, but Carlos whimpered and clung to his seat.

"Come on dude, you can't just sit here all day. What's wrong?"

"I don't want to be anywhere near that water," Carlos told him. "I can't swim, remember?"

"That's why you have a lifejacket on, 'Los. We know you aren't the strongest swimmer. But the lifejacket will make it seem like you're swimming at the pool," Logan said, seemingly oblivious to the fact that Carlos was terrified of the water.

"I don't want to," Carlos said, and he lowered his voice to an embarrassed whisper. "I'm scared."

Carlos was expecting Logan to start laughing at him, but instead he frowned with sympathy, softening his voice. "Really, Carlos? You're afraid of the ocean?"

Carlos nodded, feeling pathetic. All of his friends were fine with being in the water, yet he had this tremendous fear for absolutely no reason at all.

"You know I would never, ever let anything happen to you in the water, right?" Logan said, his brown eyes full of sincerity, which comforted Carlos a bit.

"Yeah, I know," he said.

"You trust me, right? And Kendall and James, too. They are right there," Logan said, pointing to where the two older boys splashed around, rough housing with each other. "You have to face your fears sometime, Carlos. You can't be scared of this beautiful place forever."

"You're not suggesting I swim today, right?"

"That's exactly what I'm suggesting."

"Logan, no-"

"It'll be fine, Carlos. I promise you. I'll be right with you the whole time. Don't freak out, okay? You, out of everybody else in this band, face everything head-on without looking back. You see just the fun in the situation."

"Yeah, when I do _fun_ things!" Carlos said. "Drowning is not fun!"

"You're not going to drown. You have on a lifejacket and James, Kendall and I are with you. Please, just try? If you get in and you don't like it, you can get back on the boat and we can go home."

Carlos sighed, considering this for a moment. He didn't want to seem like a scaredy cat to his friends.

"Okay, I'll get in."

Logan cheered. "Yay! Come on buddy, it'll be fun." Logan lowered himself into the water and outstretched his arms, waiting for Carlos, as if he was a toddler jumping into the pool for the first time.

Carlos stood at the edge of the boat, peering down into the dark depths of the ocean, way past Logan. He shook his head. "I can't do this!"

"Yes, you can!" Logan said. "You're not going to sink. You're life jacket will keep your head above water and I'll hold you the whole time."

"You'll hold me?" Carlos asked. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad if Logan held onto him…

"Yeah buddy, I gotcha. Just jump."

Carlos closed his eyes and squeezed his nose shut. Despite the fact his legs were shaking, he ben them a bit and pushed off towards Logan.

At first, Carlos panicked. His legs hit the water with a loud splash and he felt himself sinking. He let go of his nose to thrash his arms around, which caused water to fly up his nose.

"Logan!" Carlos gasped. In an instant, cold hands were wrapped around his waist securely, and Carlos realized he was not actually sinking.

"Carlos, Carlos quit it! You're fine," Logan said. Carlos slowly calmed down and looked around him skittishly. He did it. He was in the water.

"Logan, I'm scared," Carlos burst out.

"No, don't be scared anymore. The worst is over. You jumped in. You did it. And you didn't drown, see? You're safe."

Carlos didn't feel very safe. He wanted to be in the boat, despite that Logan was still clutching his waist. The duo floated in the water for a short while. Logan wanted Carlos to get used to the feeling of being in deep water. He was still pale and looked a bit panicked. Every time there was a small wave, he'd whimper and scramble his legs, but Logan stayed calm and strong the whole time, encouraging him he was doing great and that it was all okay.

"Do you think I can let go of you now?" Logan asked once Carlos seemed a bit more comfortable.

"No, Logan please don't let go," Carlos cried, grabbing onto his friends shoulders. He wrapped his legs around his waist and clung onto him, shaking. His heart felt like it was in his throat right about now.

"Carlos…" Logan sighed. It would be quite a feat to peel the scared boy off of him. Logan wrapped his arms beneath the seat of Carlos' swim shorts and held him, feeling kind of ridiculous. James and Kendall looked over from their game of Marco Polo and were watching the small boys questioningly and a bit awkwardly. Logan just rolled his eyes and mouthed "He's scared."

"Are you good?" James mouthed back, a bit worried. Logan nodded and gave him a thumbs-up. James smiled. Knowing Carlos was scared, he wanted nothing more than to go comfort and help him, but he knew Logan liked to feel like the "big brother" sometimes, too.

Logan patted Carlos' back. "You ready to take the next step."

"No," Carlos said.

"I'm going to let go of you now. Like I said, your lifejacket will keep you up, but I'm going to teach you how to swim. It will make you feel more confident and comfortable, and it's really easy."

"I don't know Logan…" Carlos said, clinging to his friend for dear life. Logan knew he couldn't deal with this by babying Carlos, or else he'd be scared his whole life. He had to teach Carlos not to be afraid of the water. So instead of holding him, he carefully removed Carlos from his chest, trying to ignore the sounds of his whimpers of protest, and held him by the arms.

"Look, look, you're fine," Logan cooed. "Ssh, calm down."

"Logan, no, I'm freaking out!" Carlos said, kicking his legs to get back to Logan.

"Keep kicking your legs!" Logan said. "That's how you do it. And stay relaxed. Just take deep breaths. Come on, in and out."

Carlos closed his eyes and tried to breath, holding on to Logan's wrists and kicking his legs. He was on his stomach now, floating like a raft.

"Look, you're swimming Carlos! You did it!"

Carlos opened his eyes. "I'm floating! Logan I'm floating, not sinking!"

Logan laughed. "I told you that you wouldn't sink! And you didn't even believe me!"

Carlos giggled like a little kid. He was so excited that he was actually swimming. Next, Logan taught him to tread water and doggy paddle. He saved actual swimming techniques for later, right now Logan was just impressed that Carlos made it this far.

They spent the rest of the day in the water. By the time they climbed back into the boat, everyone's muscles were sore and exhausted and the sun was setting, shining pink and orange rays against the shimmering waves.

"See? How could anything this beautiful be so scary?" Logan asked a soaking wet Carlos, wrapping him up in a beach towel.

Carlos sat next to Logan and snuggled into his side, desperate for a nap. "Thanks for teaching me how to swim, Logie." He put his head on Logan's shoulder, already slowly falling asleep.

Logan swung an arm around Carlos' shoulders. "Anytime, buddy. I'm proud of you, Carlos."

_**III: Illness**_

Carlos' stomach hurt. Well, he was pretty sure that hurt was an understatement. At first, it started out as a dull ache in the pit of his belly. He woke up with the odd feeling but pushed it aside, figuring he was just hungry. But after breakfast, it turned into an icky, nauseous feeling, and he had been really nervous that he would throw up. But the nausea had changed back into the ache after a couple of hours, and now it was mix of the ache he had woken up with cramps that doubled him over in excruciating pain, plus the nausea.

It was now late evening, and Carlos had spent the entire day in misery, hoping that his tummy ache would go away on its own, but finally he decided he couldn't take anymore. He needed comfort and hugs and somebody to make it all better. But Logan, their resident "doctor" was on a date with Camille, and James, his resident "cuddler" was out doing goodness knows what.

Kendall was the only one home. He was seated at the table, reading the newspaper (Carlos never could figure out why Kendall always read the newspaper as if he were a dad or something) while eating left over spaghetti from dinner.

Carlos loved Kendall, but they had never shared a relationship like he had with Logan and James. Kendall was always like… Well… The daddy of the group. He stuck up for Carlos, protected him and taught him things, but when it came to things like hugging or crazy adventures, he always counted on Logan and James.

"Carlos, why are you staring at me?" Kendall asked, not even looking up from his newspaper as he shoveled another bite of spaghetti into his mouth. He had sensed Carlos was standing in the hallway just staring at him as if contemplating something for the past several minutes, but didn't think anything of it. He was used to Carlos' creepy actions by now.

"Um.. Err," Carlos said, leaning against the doorway and holding his stomach. He really wanted to tell Kendall he was sick, but didn't know what to say. Kendall glanced up briefly and looked back down at his newspaper before it hit him that Carlos looked absolutely _horrible._

"Carlos! Are you okay?" Kendall asked, jumping off his barstool and rushing over to his smallest friend, who was a sickening shade of gray, sweat beads glistening across his forehead.

"Uh, I don't know Kendall. I don't feel so good," he said. He leaned forward and fell against Kendall's chest, burying his hot, damp face in his shirt. Kendall caught him, taken aback. He had never seen Carlos so ill before. He immediately began to panic, wondering what was wrong and what he should do.

"What's wrong? Do you think you have the flu?"

Carlos shrugged. He honestly didn't know what he had. He just knew it hurt, and he wanted it to be over now. Suddenly, an extra painful cramp sent him to the floor with a groan of agony. Kendall tried to hold him up, but his legs were useless and just collapsed under his weight.

"Oh my God," Kendall said under his breath. He scooped up Carlos limp, light-weight form and carried him to his bedroom, where he tucked him under a pile of blankets and placed the back of his hand against his forehead. "You're burning up, buddy. How long have you been feeling like this?"

"All day," Carlos said. His eyes welled up with tears as another wave of pain mixed with nausea hit him. He curled up into a ball and moaned in agony. "Kendall, it hurts… Make it stop!"

"What hurts?" Kendall asked, flabbergasted.

"My tummy. It's really bad Kendall."

"Why didn't you tell me earlier?" Kendall asked, stroking Carlos' sweaty bangs off his forehead.

"I thought I'd get better but it only got worse," Carlos said, letting a small sob escape past his lips.

Kendall felt absolutely horrible, and not to mention helpless, as Carlos cried in a shivering ball of blankets right in front of him. He felt nervous and apprehensive, having not much experience with caring for sick people. He didn't know what to do that would make him feel better. What if he did something to make him feel even more awful than he already did? Logan was the one who handled stuff like this! He knew all the secret tricks and techniques to keeping a sick person calm and comfy while avoiding a trip to the hospital-

"Kendall?"

Carlos' weak voice interrupted Kendall's panicked thoughts.

"Yeah buddy?" He questioned, leaning over his little friend.

"Will you lay with me?" He asked shyly.

"Oh. Yeah, ok," Kendall said. James usually was the one to snuggle Carlos when he was feeling under the weather, but he decided to give it a try slipped under the covers, wrapping an arm around Carlos' waist.

"Do you feel better yet?" Kendall asked, instantly realizing how stupid a question that was. But Carlos smiled a tiny grin and nodded. Kendall didn't realize just how much him being there made his stomachache feel so much better.

**A/N Ok seriously it is soo hard to write right now I don't even know why I'm just having issues. I hope this made all the Carlos stayers giggle with bromancy feels. Please review, I know life is super busy with school starting, but it would really make my day to know you if you liked this or not. And I'll try to update other stories but gosh I have been so busy and like I said it's really hard to write probably cause my brain is exhausted sludge. But love you guys thanks for reading xoxoxoxo.**


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